A New Beginning
by Zenosyke
Summary: Hi, I'm Keitaro Urashima...or at least that's my name now. I had to change myself a lot after I killed Shinji Ikari. edits to chapters 1 and 2 in progress.
1. Chapter 1

"A New Beginning" By Zenosyke

Chapter 1: Yeah, figure it out.

Disclaimer: Would this really be any fun if I did own it?

Hi, I'm Keitaro Urashima...or at least that's my name now. I had to change myself a lot after I killed Shinji Ikari.

Well, I suppose that's not the entire truth. I didn't so much kill him as...well you're smart people, you'll figure it out. Semantics aside, he's gone now.

Yeah, that's right, I killed the savior of humanity. I don't feel a bit of remorse for my decision either. I destroyed him in every way I could, hid the remains, and assumed a new identity to hide from all those that might come looking for him.

In any case, I'm getting ahead of myself...let's start at the end of a tale you should all be familiar with.

Shinji was having a very bad month. Asuka got mind raped, Rei blew herself up to save his worthless ass, he found out shortly after she was resurrected that said girl was partly cloned from his mother, he had to kill Kaowru against his wishes, the JSSDF attacked NERV killing most of the personnel, he found out he had been piloting his _mother_, and Asuka (having just recently regained the ability to pilot _her_ mother) got impaled and eaten by the MP Evas.

Oh, yeah! Did I mention Third Impact? Yeah, that really sucked too...

Shinji was given a choice, to accept or reject Instrumentality. He had power, he held the world in his palm, he could shape it and mold it, and the lives of those who had, were and ever would live on the planet were his to control...and he relinquished that power without hesitation. That was his fathers thinking, this is what his father and the old men of SELEE had wanted. All he wanted was for things to go back to the way they were...and so it was...almost.

His will alone being the driving force, Shinji became one with the whole of humanity for the briefest of instants before Instrumentality was rejected in its entirety. The Sea Of Red dissipated into clear blue as people were returned to their lives...for the most part, the we're many people that seemingly refused to return from the sea, thus the world population took another hit as it lost roughly 10 percent of its remaining inhabitants. The Angels ceased to exist (minus a certain blue-haired anomaly, heaven knows why). As an added bonus the world was set back on the proper axis and the polar ice caps were restored. All in all, it was a pretty damn good day in the world.

For everyone save Shinji that is...But that's not important at the moment. Now it's about time I start telling some of my own story.

November 11th, 2020 Hinata village, Kagawa prefecture, Japan

"Damn it! This is what I get for not getting a freakin' map," whined Keitaro as he wandered the village. Making a turn at random, the brown haired ronin proceeded to climb a rather steep set of stairs, hoping for a vantage point over the area. As he was ascending the excessively numerous steps he noticed, out of the corner of his eye, a very familiar spot.

"Ah, Aunt Haruka's tea shop! That means I'm close! I suppose I can stop by there first and say 'hi' before I go and grovel at grandma's feet to stay here at a discounted price," said Keitaro as he made his way strait for the cafe entrance.

He entered only to notice that business was seven kinds of dead at the moment, and his beloved aunt was staring off into space as she leaned against a wall and absently smoked one of her cigarettes. Seeing that his aunt wasn't paying attention, he attempted to greet her, "Long time no see, Aunt Haru-Gak." His attempt was cut off by a harisen to the face.

"My, my, if it isn't my nephew, Keitaro. To what do I owe the pleasure." asked Haruka pleasantly...or at least as pleasantly as she would ever get. Of course while she was speaking she also completely ignored the fact that she just smashed him in the face. Oh well.

Keitaro subconsciously shrugged the hit off as punishment for not visiting, or calling, or writing a letter...really he had put off any form of communication with her. Not out of disrespect, he was just a very forgetful person. He quickly explained that he had been kicked out of the house for failing his entrance exams twice and was hoping to have Granny Hina take him in till he got his own place. "I just happened to stumble across you and the cafe first and wanted to say 'hey' before I went up to talk to granny," concluded Keitaro.

"Hate to break it to ya kid, but granny went on a world sight seeing tour a few years back, and Hinata house has been an all girls dorm for even longer. Lucky you got to me first, the girls would have skinned a male intruder alive," said Haruka with a sigh.

"WHAT! DAMN! Now I'm gonna be jobless and homeless! Even if I do get in to Toudai I won't be able to afford it!" To say the bespectacled ronin was upset would be like saying an Evangelion was only slightly dangerous...As if his life wasn't hard enough already.

"Now hold on," said Haruka in a desperate attempt to keep her nephew from going into hysterics, "just stay here for a bit and I'll go up and see if I can't get the borders to allow you to stay until you can get on your feet."

Ecstatic now, Keitaro made to hug his loving aunt, "Thank you, Aunt Har-AGH!" The fan came down harder this time, effectively halting his advance. _'Why the hell does she keep doing that? Was it something I said?'_

_'You'd think he would get it by now,'_ thought Haruka with a sigh. "Just stay here and relax for a while, I'll be back soon with your answer...One last thing," she said, making her way to the cafe entrance. Keitaro dropped his smile in favor of an expectant look and cocked his head slightly. "You know what? Never mind...I'll ask when I get back."

Readopting his smile, Keitaro waved to Haruka as she departed for Hinata-sou and what she was sure was going to be a hell of an argument.

--

A/N: alright, my return is nigh! yeah it's short, but it felt like a good place to leave off. as a side note, all of the chapters for a while are going to have at least one "flashback" to the events post impact, eventualy leading to Shinji's demise, as well as giving Keitaro some new background.

thanks for reading this far! see ya next chapter!

Later, Zenosyke out!


	2. Chapter 2

"A New Beginning" By Zenosyke

Chapter 2: Meet your new punching bag...er, landlord.

Disclaimer: dude, I don't even have enough money to buy an Evangelion model kit, what do you think you're gonna get from suing me?

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2016 A.D. January 1st...Shortly after 3rd impact. Tokyo-3:

Shinji sighed...you'd think that having briefly had all of the knowledge _ever _he might have had the foresight to place himself closer to home post impact, yet here he was...walking the remaining few kilometers home. He had already been walking for two hours and the smell of dried LCL was beginning to bug him. He looked around him as he walked the streets and let a weak smile cross his face; people were celebrating like it was 1999. Of course with all the odd things that happened in Tokyo-3, for all they knew, it was.

_'The whole "having an ozone layer and seasons" thing is going to take some getting used too, I guess,'_ thought Shinji, briefly taking pride in what he figured could be considered his work. At least others got some happiness from his months of suffering fighting the Angels.

Finally Misato's apartment building came into view. As he climbed the steps, his only hope was that, if Misato and Asuka were indeed there (like he hoped), that his subsequent berating and beating that he expected (by Misato and Asuka respectively), would be brief...he was really tired.

Reaching the door to the apartment, he slowly opened it, only to be greeted by something that he hadn't been expecting at all...silence. He cautiously entered the apartment to find that all was calm. Panicking slightly, Shinji went to Misato's room and was relived to see his guardian sound asleep (not surrounded by the usual twenty Yebisu cans for once), the same for his German flat mate.

Secure in the knowledge that his pseudo-family was safe and sound, Shinji collapsed on the couch. He reached out for the remote, only to pause when he heard movement in the kitchen.

_'That's way too loud to be pen-pen...great, the reward I get for saving the world is getting robbed,'_ thought Shinji.

Getting off the couch as quietly as possible, the young hero snuck over to the broom closet and picked up his clothes iron. Pressing himself against the wall, he shuffled to the kitchen opening. Steeling himself as best he could with his tried and true mantra (_'I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away'_), Shinji rounded the corner, raising the iron to strike-"AYANAMI?! What are you _doing_ here?"

"Hello, Ikari-kun, I did not hear you enter. I was in need of sustenance, so I set out to find something edible," replied the blue-haired angel.

_'Good luck with that in Misato's kitchen,'_ thought Shinji, but he quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind as he realized that there were more pressing matters to attend to in front of him. "I meant what are you doing in this apartment? Better yet, how are you here? I watched you crumble and die in front of me," said Shinji, shivering slightly at the memory.

"I am unable to explain my continued existence; all I know is that when I awoke in my apartment, I felt compelled to come and talk to you. Upon my arrival, Major Katsuragi and Pilot Sohryu were already, or perhaps still were, asleep. I have been waiting for you since."

Finally realizing that he still had the iron poised for a strike, Shinji relaxed his arm, set his makeshift weapon on the kitchen table, and lead Rei to the couch he had occupied not two minutes prior.

They sat in awkward silence, Shinji running his hand through his still LCL caked hair while Rei remained perfectly still, crimson eyes fixed solidly on the boy next to her. Eventually, Shinji broke the silence,"So...what did you want to discuss Ayanami?"

"I wish to know why," responded Rei.

Confusion and curiosity overtook Shinji at that point,"I'm not sure I follow you, Ayanami. 'Why' what?"

"Why did you reject Instrumentality? You gave up paradise and what some would consider immortality and I wish to understand why."

Shinji sighed, this was not a topic he wanted to discuss today...or ever really. "None of it would have been real. You would be the only real thing in your world, Accomplishments, failures, love, loss, life in general, all of it would have been worthless. Pleasant as it may be in the beginning, the incentive to continue on living just wouldn't be there. I'd rather face life knowing that I might not make a _significant_ difference than go on knowing that any difference I make won't matter after I'm gone."

"I...see...Thank you, Ikari-kun. This conversation has been very enlightening." the angel girl stood up and left the apartment, only sparing a glance back at Shinji to thank him for his hospitality before exiting.

Deciding that he had had enough for the day, Shinji went to his room and went to sleep. His last thought before he lost consciousness was, _'damn, I still smell like blood...'_

He got one of the most restful sleeps he ever had that night, and the last restful sleep he would have for a very long time.

November, 2020. Hinata Hot springs village:

We join the argument, already in progress, between Haruka and the residents of Hinata-sou…

"ABSOLUTELY NOT! There is no way we are going to let some perverted male stay here! We live in a _GIRLS_ dorm! I don't care if he is the owner's grandson!" exclaimed the enraged Naru Narusegawa. The young honey haired woman was absolutely livid that their house mother of all people was saying that some _guy_ should be allowed to stay there.

Seeing that she wasn't going to make any progress with a pissed off Naru present, Haruka decided to temporarily retreat and let the girls cool off before coming back for another strike. She began walking to the door, feeling the stares of the girls on her back, she mumbled to herself, "Guess it would have been a pain for him to get to Tokyo-U from here anyway." It was a desperation tactic, and technically she wasn't lying…

"Tokyo-U?! He's a Toudai student?" came the near simultaneous response of the residents (except Kaolla Su, who merely asked, "What's a To-kiyo-ewe? Does it taste good?").

Hook, line, and sinker…let them draw their own conclusions and you can perform miracles. _'I can't believe that worked,'_ thought Haruka, as she silently watched the girls revise their opinion of the situation.

_'Even if he is a perverted male, if he's in Toudai he might be able to help me get in.'_ Thought Naru, _'Still, I really don't want some random guy I don't even know hanging around me, who knows what he might try and pull!'_

_'If he's going to Tokyo-U and he's Granny Hina's grandson he must be loaded!'_ Mitsune Konno (AKA Kitsune) smirked.

_'Not even a male can be that despicable if he managed to get into the most prestigious college in the nation…'_ Motoko Aoyama relented at least that much, _'But if he tries anything perverse, anything which defines him as male will be swiftly…dealt with.'_ Her hand tightened around her Shisui unconsciously.

_'I wonder if I'm going to need to set an extra place at the dinner table. Hm…what should I make for that matter?'_ The young Shinobu Maehara had really stopped paying attention a while back, she had household duties to worry about. As long as the guy was nice, she really had no problems with him staying for a while.

_'I wonder what we're having for dinner?'_ Kaolla had also lost interest in the conversation rather quickly. The foreigner was hoping they would let the man stay though, she needed a new playmate.

Finally, Kitsune broke the silence, "So, where is he sleeping?"

"WHAT?! You _can't_ be serious! Must I reiterate? All girls dorm plus man equals very, very bad!" Yelled Naru, enraged that her best friend was even considering harboring the man.

"It would be uncool of us to turn him away after he has come this far. I see no harm in letting him stay temporarily," Added Motoko, "If Haruka-san says that it is safe to have him around, I trust her judgment as our elder." A vein popped out on said Haruka's head, but she said nothing in response.

"Yay! Somebody new to play with!"

"I'll make sure to make extra food tonight for him."

Seeing that everyone had turned against her, Naru surrendered, "…Fine! But if he tries anything funny, even once, he's out on his ass!"

The Café owner let a small smile cross her lips briefly, "Thanks girls, I'll go get him so we can get some proper introductions done." With that she hurried off to grab her nephew before the girls changed their minds.

Keitaro was bored…really bored. His aunt had left a little over thirty minutes ago, and you can only drink so much coffee before you get sick of it. He had already raided the back room for snacks and played around with the register (which was short lived due to a few bad button combinations sending the machine haywire). Beyond that he had found little else to do but sit and wait.

Luckily, Haruka arrived just in time to prevent him from gnawing on the counter top, a smug look of satisfaction on her face.

"I take it all went well?" asked Keitaro.

"It took some doing, but it got done. So, you didn't break anything while I was out, did you?"

"Um…er…ah," he stole a glance in the direction of the register before quickly changing the subject, "Hey, before you left, didn't you say you had something you wanted to ask me?"

What smile had remained quickly vanished from Haruka's face. "Yes, actually, I did. While I was up at the house, before I started talking to the girls, I called your parents. They confirmed that they had indeed kicked "Keitaro" out and that he was intending to come here." She paused, presumably to collect her thoughts. "What I really want to know is, who the hell are you?"

"I'm not sure I follow you…" replied Keitaro, a confused look etched into his face.

"I wouldn't be helping you if I didn't think I could trust you, but I think I deserve to know who I'm helping. Sure, you may talk and act like Keitaro, you know what I expect that he would know, and hell, you even look a great deal like him…But your mannerisms and your very presence scream that you aren't who you say you are. So I'll ask again, who the hell are you, and what did you do with the real Keitaro?"

"Must we resort to stock dialog so soon?" Getting only a freezing glare as a response, he thought, _'So much for trying to diffuse the situation slightly._' He dropped the confused act, adopting an uncharacteristically solemn look, "I'm honestly surprised mom and dad didn't tell you what happened…Anyway, lets just say that I'm a guy who got more second chances in life than he deserved."

"What do you mean 'didn't tell you what happened'?" asked Haruka, her cold glare at the man in front of her never relenting.

The man in question sighed, this wasn't a story he wanted to be forced into telling so soon. "The Keitaro you once knew is dead. He died roughly a month and a half after Third Impact. He was crossing the street and was struck by a renegade 18-wheeler that had been going downhill and lost its breaks."

"Why wasn't I told he was killed?" asked Haruka, her glare lessening slightly at the knowledge that one of her relatives was gone forever.

"There really wasn't much left for anyone to see after he got torn up by the undercarriage of the truck. They still hadn't completely recovered from having to do the body identification when I met them. I think they had originally been planning to tell everyone when they were emotionally stable enough to have a formal funeral."

"So, where exactly do you come in to the picture?" she asked. That sounded like something her sister and brother-in-law might pull, but she wasn't ready to relinquish all skepticism in the matter.

"I had just recently done something that got me a great deal of unwanted publicity and had gone into hiding when I stumbled upon mom and dad crying at his grave. They recognized my face from the news reports they had seen, but before they told anyone they had seen me, I begged them to listen to my side of the story. They did, and they decided that I deserved a second chance, something I thank god for every day. They took me in, and since I bore a natural resemblance to their late son (minus eye color, easily corrected with contacts), they let me adopt his identity. It gave me the perfect disguise and a chance to live a new life. The only other person that found out was Kanako, and that was because she lived with us. They treated me as if I was their flesh and blood, going so far as to teach me their branch of the Musabetsu Kakuto Ryuu like they did my sister. In fact, I recently got back from a training trip with the new grand master of the Ryuu. All I ask is that you do like they did and give me a chance to prove myself worthy to live on in his name."

Finally, Haruka relaxed her glare, a single tear escaping the corner of her eye before being hastily removed. "All right, you've got your shot…don't make me regret giving it to you, 'Keitaro'. Now follow me, it's time to meet your new house mates."

Getting up, Keitaro walked over to his aunt and gave her a light squeeze on the shoulder, "Thank you, Aunt Ha-Urk! What is with the fan?!" complained Keitaro.

"Haruka-san will do better, Kei-bozu…Never did like being called 'aunt' anyway." She said over her shoulder as she left the shop.

"Aw, come on! It's a term of endearment!" he whined, as he followed her out. Both with the smallest of smiles on their face.

"All right, everyone here?" asked Haruka. Upon her arrival with Keitaro she had asked Shinobu to ask everyone to join them in the lobby.

"Motoko said she would be down in a minute, but otherwise yes," replied Shinobu.

"Oh well, I suppose we can start without her," said Haruka, "Girls, This," she pointed next to her where Keitaro was standing, "is my nephew, Keitaro. Keitaro these are Naru Narusegawa, Shinobu Maehara, Mitsune Konno, and Kaolla Su," she said, pointing to each girl in turn.

"Eh he he, It's nice to meet you all, I'm Keitaro-"

"URASHIMA! What are you doing here?!" Motoko knew something felt wrong as she walked down the stairs to the lobby, and now _HE_ was here.

_'Oh hell, not _HER thought Keitaro as he turned to face the new voice, only to have his worst fears confirmed, "Hello, Aoyama, Long time, no see. What's it been? Six months? A year?"

"You two know each other already?" asked Shinobu.

"I met her on a training trip a while back with sensei, he and her older sister have a bit of a rivalry going on."

"It extends to us as well, Urashima! Prepare yourself!" yelled Motoko, drawing Shisui from its sheath and dashing forward. Keitaro yelped and jumped out the nearest window with the crazed swordswoman on his tail. The remaining people in the lobby listened as the area where the fight was taking place was torn up, seeing the occasional piece of debris fly past the window as well as hearing the occasional cries signaling special moves on both sides.

"Well...things are certainly going to be more interesting around here from now on, aren't they?" Asked Kitsune.

"I believe so," replied Haruka.

Meanwhile, two towns over, a woman in her early thirty's with long purple hair and a red bomber jacket could be seen gathering information on a fresh lead she had received for a case nearly five years old.

A/N: well, that was way longer than the last chapter...got a bit dark there for a while too, hope it all came out ok. And yes, that was Misato at the end, the girls of Evangelion will be joining the cast in just a few chapters. Speaking of girls, if you have an opinion on who Keitaro should get paired up with, vote on the pole on my profile. My thanks to ryukadsgc, johnny o binome, Nintendogeek01, Kirako, Verathalyn, and Neferius for showing at least some interest in this story. Oh, and if anyone would like to pre-read for me, please email me and let me know. Thanks to all of you have made it this far!

Later, Zenosyke out!


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